Category: Micah Parsons

Parsons calls out NFL RB’s Dallas slander, peels curtain on why he’s mad at Cowboys inactivity

In responding to Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs’ slander of Dallas, did Parsons reveal a different set of priorities than the talented running back?

Everyone likes to kick a team when they’re down, apparently. In his latest edition of his podcast on Bleacher Report, Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons talks to regular guest Trevon Diggs about a shot levied at their organization last week. Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs took the opportunity to speak down on the Dallas franchise in a recent interview with Kay Adams.

Speaking about the 2023 draft process, the University of Alabama product spoke to how the one thing he wanted to avoid was going to a city where he’d play in the cold. Then he threw what seemed like an unprovoked shot at the Cowboys organization. Dallas apparently had shown interest in the talented back and Gibbs turned his nose up, stating he’d “be so sick… I’d be hot,” if he ended up in Dallas.

Parsons — who has let it be known he wants to re-sign with the Dallas Cowboys this offseason and avoid ever hitting free agency — and Diggs, who signed a big deal two years ago, have unique perspective.

While Gibbs is enjoying tremendous team success in his two years with Detroit, they think it’s untrue any player wouldn’t enjoy their time in Dallas.

“Bluffing,” says Diggs.

“I’ll be honest with you man. I really like the Lions. I like everything they stand for with Dan Campbell, they’re play style. But bro, everyone wants to come play for America’s Team. We don’t gotta get on the media and start cappin’ (lying), how many people tell Jerry ‘come get me’. We’re not even going to throw names out there…

It’s a tax-free state. You’re going to get more marketing dollars than you ever had – in one year – than you ever had. And then the running back success that we’ve had in Dallas…”

Naming illustrious running back careers such as Emmitt Smith, DeMarco Murray, Tony Dorsett and Ezekiel Elliott that have been forged in Dallas, the two speak on how many “Tier 1 players” beg them to tell Jerry Jones to come get them, and it sheds some light on Parsons’ frustrations at the lack of Cowboys activity in free agency.

If he’s hearing from star players directly they’d want to join Dallas yet sees no action from the front office, that sets the foundation for some of Parsons’ public statements.

“We pay running backs, too,” Parsons quipped.

Parsons is long established as one of the NFL’s premiere players. On several occasions he’s made public statements of jealousy over watching other teams’ activity on the free agent market while Dallas sits idle. Now finishing up his fourth season in the league, he’s hinted that he’s even willing to take less on his next contract if Jerry Jones would spend it on bringing in talent from the outside.

One interesting takeaway though, is that Parsons and Diggs are speaking about the financial ramifications of being on the Cowboys. Meanwhile Gibbs went to the NFC Championship game in 2023 and the Lions are the current No.1 seed in the NFC with the playoffs less than two weeks away.

Perhaps he has a different set of priorities.

Cowboys win was a pivotal moment for CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons

CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons showed tremendous growth as Cowboys leaders in Week 16

A funny thing happened on the way to Week 16 for Dallas. Sunday afternoon’s game between the Eagles and Commanders officially eliminated the Cowboys from the postseason, and two of the biggest and most polarizing stars in town grew into undeniable leaders within the organization.

Despite having “nothing to play for,” CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons played with the level of heart rarely seen under these circumstances in professional sports. The two Cowboys superstars have drawn criticism in the past for things ranging from sideline behavior, to on field body language, to selective effort, to comments and attitudes expressed between games. Legitimate or not many fans have grown weary of such antics and voiced displeasure in two of the biggest franchise cornerstones.

It’s unquestionably been a trying season for the Cowboys. Injuries were catastrophic and Dallas’s hope of posting a fourth straight 12-win season was vanquished three days into November. Superstars were lost, homefield felt like a foreign land and disappointment generally reigned supreme.

The loss of Dak Prescott to a season ending injury left a power vacuum in the locker room. The Cowboys had other great players but no one with the leadership skills and gravitas of the recovering quarterback. With postseason hopes gone and an uncertain future awaiting the franchise in 2025, the team had every reason in the world to mail it in.

Yet in a game that in many ways meant nothing, Lamb and Parsons showed firsthand that, to them, it meant everything. Lamb, physically pained by a shoulder injury, and Parsons, absolutely exhausted carrying the load as edge rusher, showed the grit and determination that harkened back memories of heroes past.

The optics of the situation showed Lamb and Parsons grow as leaders on Sunday night. It was a scene reminiscent of the Grinch overlooking Whoville on Christmas Day. It was the kind of growth that doesn’t just go away. It’s the kind of fight, kind of spirit, kind of leadership that can propel a team into a tide turning offseason.

To many, Sunday’s win against Tampa Bay meant nothing more than a cruddier draft pick next April. But this win wasn’t just any win. It was a win and a performance that can change the very DNA of a locker room.

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Micah Parsons noise likely to dominate Cowboys offseason coverage

The idea of the Cowboys trading Micah Parsons is as absurd as the media’s infatuation for long-shot scenarios

Raise your hand if you loved the constant media coverage last offseason about Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb’s unresolved contract extensions. Anyone? Anyone? Not even a little?

Aside from the national media, who live off ratings, and Cowboys front office, who lives off attention, it’s safe to say hardly anyone in the general public enjoyed the absurd and unrelenting conversation surrounding Prescott and Lamb’s unresolved contract situations last offseason.

Re-signing Prescott and Lamb basically went without saying. Both players were cornerstone pieces executing at peak levels. The players themselves had interest in staying in Dallas, the Cowboys had sincere desire to bring them back, the team had cap room, and the market had been clearly set. Re-signing was a forgone conclusion, yet the media couldn’t stop speculating about their possible departure because big names pull big attention.

With so many alterative storylines available to discuss, it was maddening for Cowboys fans and non-Cowboys fans alike to be inundated with constant talk about a possible divorce between these players and their team.

This year it seems the greater NFL media is at it again, but this time they have their sights set on Micah Parsons. Parsons, the Cowboys superstar pass rusher, is entering the last year of his rookie deal in 2025. He’s eligible to sign an extension and when he does, he’s likely to reset the market as the top defensive player in the NFL.

At age 25 and playing at the peak of his profession, every team in the NFL would love to have someone like Parsons. And with constant talk of “pie” and free agent penny pinching, Stephen Jones has made the Cowboys an easy target for a national media thirsty for tantalizing Cowboys headlines.

Now after recent comments regarding another frugal offseason in 2025, the media has already spun dozens of Parsons trade stories. While Jones’ statements at the time and subsequent statements thereafter have specifically shot down such a blockbuster transaction, the damage has been done, and the clickbait playbook has been released.

It seems the only thing that will get this genie back in the bottle is a new contract, and based on the Cowboys history of negotiations, that won’t happen until the 11th hour. That means Cowboys fans can expect at least eight months of trade speculation, eight months of public bickering between Parsons’ camp and the Cowboys front office, eight months of coverage that could be going to something interesting.

Not that a Parsons trade wouldn’t be interesting, just that trading arguably the best pass rusher in the NFL isn’t a realistic possibility right now. While he can be re-signed at any point, he’s under contract for another full season. After that the Cowboys have the ability to keep him for one year, if not two years, under the franchise tag. That would take him all the way to 2028.

“We love Micah,” Stephen Jones said to address the developing media storm. “I can’t imagine a scenario where he’s not wearing the star on his helmet.”

As if the team needed a reminder of what Parsons brings to the table, they just got it this season. After missing four weeks earlier in the year, Parsons returned in Week 10 and has been a force ever since. Since his return the Cowboys have been first in sacks, first in pressures, and second in pass rush win rate.

Over the last four weeks with Parsons, the Cowboys have posted the fifth best defense in the NFL and with that an affirming 3-1 record. His impact is profound, and the Cowboys know it. He also brings star power and all the marketability that comes with that. That’s something everyone can agree the Cowboys have a keen eye for and value greatly.

Because they just can’t get enough of the Cowboys, the national media is almost guaranteed to latch onto the Parsons trade conversation and not let go until it’s finally put to bed with a new contract.

Buckle up.

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Micah Parsons to ESPN on Cowboys’ extension: Not a ‘big difference between $30 and $40 million’

The Cowboys defensive superstar spoke to his pending contract negotiations and provided parameters to what it would take for him to give a hometown discount. | From @KDDrummondNFL

In a heavily edited snippet from a longer interview, Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons had some really interesting words on Monday Night Countdown. Talking to the incomparable Todd Archer, Parsons spoke to the upcoming offseason negotiations that could make him the highest-paid non quarterback in the entire NFL.

And in his conversation he gave words that will make headlines, but also have a realistic view of things. Parsons wants to play for the Cowboys for life, and he’d be willing to take less but only if it’s because Dallas is truly making an effort to bring in help.

“I’m Jerry’s guy… I know numbers talk, but at the end of the day, whatever it takes for me to continue to be a Cowboy until I retire. I really just love this place. I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else.”

When asked by Archer if it matters to be the highest-paid defensive player, Parsons went even deeper.

“It really just depends on the circumstances of who we’re trying to get. Who’s trying to return? To me it’s all about the foundation of the team. How can I create the best foundation and play with the guys who’ve helped me create a lot of success? Those guys helped me get to where I am. It’s all about the aggressiveness, how we look at free agency. You see a lot of times, the highest-paid player, and we see they don’t have weapons. I’d rather just be in the best situation. At that point, I don’t think there’s a big difference between $30 and $40 million.”

“My agent might be mad at me.”

Parsing Parsons’ words is important here. Parsons is clearly laying down the gauntlet to Jones that he’s going to have to go out and get the players in free agency to prove to him it’s in his (Parsons) best interest to take a hometown discount.

He’s not going to shortchange himself just for the team to be inactive in free agency. Parsons has been vocal in watching other teams load up in free agency and go for it all.

Parsons was part of a tumultuous offseason for the Cowboys that saw their three leading superstars take completely different paths to their contract situations. WR CeeDee Lamb held out of OTAs and training camp until he was awarded a new deal at the top of the wideout market. QB Dak Prescott showed up to every practice throughout as the leader of the team and was awarded a new deal making him the highest-paid player (on average) in NFL history.

Parsons straddled between the two, missing OTAs but showing up for all mandatory work. His situation was a bit different, as he had two years remaining on his deal at the time. Now, as 2024 winds down, he’s preparing for an offseason scenario similar to his teammates was this past spring and summer.

Here’s the full interview.

Parsons makes waves with remarks interpreted as shot at McCarthy’s Cowboys future

From @ToddBrock24f7: Parsons had some harsh words when asked about his head coach’s future with the team, but his answer was more about his veteran teammates.

Though there have been more lopsided final scores through the years, the Cowboys’ humiliating 34-6 loss on Sunday ranks as one of the most thorough and demoralizing defeats in the franchise’s history.

Emotions within Cowboys Nation are raw. The same goes for inside the locker room, too, where coaches and players can expect another difficult week of doom-and-gloom queries about the current state of the team amid a 3-6 season that shows no sign whatsoever of improving.

The more outspoken members of the organization will no doubt have things to say, and in a year when so much has not gone as planned, many of the comments and remarks to come out of Dallas over the coming days and weeks will also land in ways that no one saw coming.

Micah Parsons has already kicked off the headline-making soundbite frenzy with his reply to a question about his head coach’s future with the team.

Longtime Cowboys writer Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports asked the edge rusher about the feeling inside the locker room regarding whether Mike McCarthy- on the final year of his contract- will return to the role in 2025.

“That’s above my pay grade about if Mike is coaching again next year,” Parsons prefaced. But what he went on to say next will stir up all kinds of chatter with the team’s media, fans, and outside observers.

“All coaching aside, Mike can leave and go wherever he wants, but guys I kind of feel bad for is guys like Zack Martin and guys who might be on their last year, on their way out, because that’s who I want to go hold the trophy for. You want to win games and do great things with those type of legends who put in more time and work than Mike McCarthy ever did. Those are the kind of guys that I have so much sympathy and hurt for.”

There are two primary ways the outspoken 25-year-old’s comments are being interpreted by a fanbase helplessly watching their season roll off the edge of a cliff in dramatic slow-motion.

Reading No. 1 focuses on the two times Parsons references his coach by name. This translation seems to almost assume that McCarthy will be somewhere else next season and that Parsons won’t lose much sleep over it, because he doesn’t feel the coach has put in the same kind of investment that Parsons and some of his his teammates have.

Reading No. 2 suggests that Parsons is really zeroing in on the team’s veteran players, like Martin. He views the wasted 2024 season as an unfortunate way to end either a long Cowboys stint or a star-studded pro career and feels like he and his younger teammates are letting down their mentors who deserve one last chance at a ring.

There’s truth to both interpretations.

The hot-take sports-talk shows will hammer home “McCarthy can leave” as a shouting point and turn Parsons’s reference to how little “time and work” the coach supposedly devoted into some sort of out-loud coded admission that McCarthy has lost the locker room.

But Parsons is correct on everything he said, even if the tone and context were unnecessarily harsh toward his head coach.

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The frustrating reality is that the window is closing for seasoned Cowboys players like Martin (or DeMarcus Lawrence or Dak Prescott or Ezekiel Elliott or Jourdan Lewis). And while there will be Pro Bowl honors and All-Pro nods and individual statistics and personal accolades to carry them into their post-gridiron lives, there may not be more than a smattering of playoff-game appearances, and no postseason success whatsoever past the divisional round.

Parsons can likely already see himself in their stories: great players sacrificing themselves daily but stuck on teams that could never get themselves collectively over the hump to true football glory.

Ten years of weight rooms and trainer’s tables; giving blood, sweat, and tears to the game. A decade of destroying their bodies in exchange for temporary hero status, and then it’s all over. Maybe the lucky select few get a radio or TV gig to give the token ex-player’s perspective.

For a coach, however, even if it ends disastrously, there’s usually a different-colored cap to put on and another clipboard to hold next season.

To a competitor like Parsons, that has to be beyond maddening. And when he’s asked about it in the moments after another embarrassing no-show by the entire roster, what’s going to come out won’t be the typical, politically-correct, boring, safe, vanilla, cliched answers to a reporter’s question.

But now, whether he meant to or not, Parsons has thrown McCarthy right out into traffic. Both will be asked about the comments this week. McCarthy will likely brush it off. Other Cowboys players will be asked about it, too. So will Jerry Jones.

Parsons has already clapped back, posting Monday on social media:

“Loll damn yeah ima just eat the fine for now on! Because the way yall twist words and flip them around for content is nasty work!”

He’ll no doubt have even more to say on the subject in this week’s episode of his podcast.

And a season already going up in flames will produce a new hotspot off to the side that will get everyone’s attention, at least until next Monday night’s meeting with Houston, when Parsons, McCarthy, and the Cowboys will get their next opportunity to alter the 2024 narrative before a nationwide primetime audience.

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Cowboys’ Micah Parsons: Return from injury for 49ers showdown ‘still in the air’

From @ToddBrock24f7: Parsons has missed 2 games with a high-ankle sprain. He says it’ll be up to the Cowboys training staff as to whether he returns for Week 8.

The last time they were on the football field, the Cowboys defense gave up nearly 500 yards and 47 points. If you’re measuring solely by point margin, you’d have to go back to 1988 and the final year of the Tom Landry era to find a worse defeat.

While the bye week offered Cowboys coaches a chance to take a step back and figure out what has gone so off the rails this season, it also gave several injured Cowboys defenders an extra week to heal up before the next game versus the San Francisco 49ers.

While DeMarcus Lawrence, Eric Kendricks, DaRon Bland, Marshawn Kneeland, and Caelen Carson were certainly missed versus Detroit, no one’s absence on the defensive side of the ball was felt more acutely than that of Micah Parsons.

But the 25-year-old, who sat out his first game ever because of an injury in Week 5, then missed a second straight game in last Sunday’s 38-point loss, says he’s optimistic he’ll be ready to go by the weekend.

“My hopes are always very high,” Parsons said Monday, regarding his chances to suit up at Levis’s Stadium on Sunday. “I love great challenges. I love being able to beat the odds. I’m going to put this up to my trainers and my coaching staff.”

The two-time first-team All-Pro suffered a high-ankle sprain in a late-September win over the Giants. Since then, the Defensive Player of the Year hopeful has been working hard just to get back in the lineup.

“Micah’s making progress,” head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters Monday, even confirming that Parsons had put in additional work over the bye week.

“Micah was here. He”s doing good; he was in here every day going through rehab. We had, obviously, a big group in here all week last week. Hell, there’s a lot of guys in here working extra. I’m always appreciative and impressed with that… You couldn’t tell it was a bye week, just based off the number of guys I saw in the building throughout the week.”

Monday was scheduled to be a light day for players in terms of actual drills, so the coaching staff may not get a strong indicator of Parsons’s readiness until midweek.

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“It’s still in the air,” Parsons explained. “Obviously, it’s more than just me. I have to clear it with Britt [Brown, Cowboys director of rehabilitation], the coaches, the head coach. They want to make sure — obviously because there’s so many games left — that I come back at the best result. Sometimes, it’s not always the player’s decision. It’s the people with the higher pay grade.”

Parsons admitted to media members that he wasn’t really close to playing against the Lions in Week 6, though he’s been taking it day-by-day since.

“The thing with my injury is that it’s determined person-to-person,” Parsons said.

“It’s more of just getting the sense of how I explode back. Just acceleration and things like that. That’s the biggest thing for me.”

It will also be an awfully big thing for Dallas as they face a longtime NFC nemesis and begin a brutal five-game stretch that could go a long way in deciding the season before Thanksgiving.

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Parsons, Carson headline inactives in Cowboys-Steelers Week 5 tilt, rookie WR to debut

Dallas is doing three defensive starters now, with both edge rushers and now a corner missing from the action.

The Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers are careening towards their 31st matchup in franchise history. The last official pre-game acts? Naming of the inactives. Teams have 53-man rosters and can elevate two players from the practice squad each week. However they are only allowed to dress a certain amount and allow them onto the field in a game.

That number is 47, but it has caveats. If a team is dressing at least nine offensive linemen, they can dress 48 players. A team can also dress an emergency third quarterback, who can play in case the top two signal callers are injured. That leaves six players to be named inactive.

How to Watch, Stream Listen to Cowboys-Steelers on SNF

For Dallas, the headline is Micah Parsons, dealing with a high ankle sprain. Parsons didn’t practice all week and it was clear early he was going to miss the game. Not mentioned are DE DeMarcus Lawrence and WR Brandin Cooks, who were moved to IR earlier in the week.

 

RB Deuce Vaughn
LB Micah Parsons
CB Caelen Carson
DE KJ Henry
OT Matt Waletzko
TE John Stephens Jr.
Trey Lance (emergency QB)

Notable is that Dallas is activating WR Ryan Flournoy and also that starting corner Caelen Carson is going to miss his second consecutive contest. He’s been starting opposite Trevon Diggs since Daron Bland has spent the first third of the season on IR after foot surgery.

As for the Steelers, they will also be without some key pieces, with edge LB Alex Highsmith out along with RBs Jaylen Warren and Cardarrelle Patterson.

‘Figured myself invincible’: Micah Parsons coming to grips with likelihood of sitting out Week 5

From @ToddBrock24f7: Parsons may miss his first game ever due to injury, although he’s trying to return as quickly as possible. It doesn’t look good for Sunday.

Heading into the Cowboys’ Week 4 game in New York, linebacker Micah Parsons was trying to avoid the first three-game losing streak in his football life.

Now he’s staring down a prospective barrel that upsets him even more.

The superstar defender, wearing a protective boot and using a scooter around The Star on Monday, seems hard-pressed to play this Sunday when the Cowboys visit Pittsburgh. If he has to sit due to the high-ankle sprain he suffered late in last Thursday’s win over the Giants, it will- incredibly- be the first game Parsons has ever missed, at any level, because of injury.

Parsons isn’t yet ready to concede.

“When you’re a real competitor, you only get 17 chances at this,” Parsons said, per Todd Archer of ESPN. “And missing one of these opportunities to perform at the highest level bothers me. I feel like I want to play on Sunday. If I can play, I will play, you know. To me, as long as I can run and move how I move, I want to play.”

Parsons is officially considered week-to-week, but the more realistic outlook points to him having to sit for at least one or even two games, considering Dallas has a bye after that.

“It’s just frustrating, for real,” he said, as reported by the team website. “You put a lot of energy into getting ready and being there for the team, so being out, this hurts me because I’m letting people down. I’m just letting people down. I figured myself invincible for a while.”

But the two-time All-Pro isn’t in total denial about his current prognosis. And he’s well aware that rushing back before his body is ready could mean a re-injury… and an even longer absence.

“It’s just going to come down to how I’m attacking this and getting right with Jim [Maurer, head trainer], and getting ahead of this, so that way I can get back as fast as possible. I’m just trying to get back as fast as possible, but I don’t want it to linger.”

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The 25-year-old was held out of a game during his rookie season due to COVID protocol, but he says being sidelined with an actual injury is a new experience.

“Never,” said the three-time Pro Bowler. “Never in my whole life. I’ve never missed a game. I’ve played hurt and through pain, so, to me, playing through hurt isn’t really the problem.”

But that does seem to be the way things are looking, and not just to Parsons.

“He’ll be challenged to play this week. We’re preparing to play without him,” head coach Mike McCarthy said of Parsons to media members Monday.

“It’s definitely the unfortunate part of our game… It takes a lot of players to win in this league. Creates a great opportunity for others; that’s definitely our approach.”

So while Parsons may not lead his defensive teammates onto the field in Pittsburgh, he’s already started leading them in the week’s preparation.

“It’s time to man up,” said Parsons. “We talk about next-man-up mentality? It’s time.”

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Cowboys injury update: Parsons out until bye, Lawrence to IR

The bookend end rushers are going to be on the shelf for a while. Read up on the latest news and what Dallas can do next. | From @KDDrummondNFL

Things have been a little cryptic about what to expect from the injury tent. During Thursday’s 20-15 win over the New York Giants, the Cowboys suffered a couple of injuries to key defenders. Both starting edge rushers, Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence suffered foot injuries. X-rays came back negative, but those only show broken bones.

MRIs the next day gave a clearer picture, but the club hasn’t been forthcoming about the extent of each injury. Fans did hear that Parsons suffered a high-ankle sprain, but Lawrence’s diagnosis was a little more cloudy. On Sunday, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport provided some clarity. Parsons is out for at least 7-10 days and Lawrence is headed to IR with a mid-foot sprain.

The Cowboys will turn to a combination of players to replace the duo, led by rookie Marshawn Kneeland. Also in the mix will be veterans Carl Lawson and Chauncey Golston. Lawson is currently on the practice squad and has used up two elevations thus far, with one remaining.

Dallas may need to go outside the organization for depth help. If so, the list of potential street free agents is headlined by former Cowboys DE Randy Gregory. The list of potential trade candidates is led by former Eagle Haason Reddick, who has refused to report to the New York Jets after being traded their this past spring.

Trade? Haason Reddick among 5 NFL edge rushers Cowboys should consider after Parsons, Lawrence injuries

Reddick is the most famous name, but there’s also a former Mike Zimmer draft pick who may be available in Minnesota. | From @KDDrummondNFL

It could be worse, but it is absolutely bad for the Dallas Cowboys. Following the snapping of a two-game losing streak on Thursday, Cowboys Wire’s headline hinted there may not be much joy despite another beating of the rival New York Giants. “Cowboys hope winning battle vs Giants, 20-15, didn’t cost them much more via injury,” it read. Well, it did. MRIs revealed that three-time All-Pro Micah Parsons suffered a high-ankle sprain when he was landed on late in the game. To make matters worse, four-time Pro Bowler DeMarcus Lawrence had exited in the third quarter and was seen getting the bottom of his foot taped with what has now been deemed a multiple-week foot injury.

That’s two starting edge rushers out for an undetermined stretch after the team already lost key reserve Sam Williams for the season during training camp. Things are dire and it may lead the front office to try and get some help from outside the organization.

Earlier in the day, anticipating this news, a list of 10 street free agents was put together. But those guys are on the street for a reason and there may not be much return there. It might take looking to other team’s rosters in order to stop the bleeding. So who exactly is available, or could be for the right price? A quick poll of NFL Wire editors about where their respective teams’ rosters stood revealed four names they thought their clubs would deem expendable for the right price. The conversation though starts with a player who has already asked to be traded from his current club.

Haason Reddick, NY Jets

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Pro-football-reference.com

Reddick was traded from the Philadelphia Eagles to the New York Jets over the summer, in exchange for a 2026 third-round pick. Reddick hasn’t stepped foot inside the Jets facilities, holding out the entire training camp and regular season. He even demanded to be traded again in August after the two sides failed to rework his contract.

Reddick has been accruing fines and is weeks away from having his contract toll to 2025, which means he’ll be locked into the Jets for 2025 under the same terms if he doesn’t report by a deadline. It appears he feels slighted by the Jets so it’s unclear whether or not he’d play under his current contract for another team, but the Cowboys have the cap room to take on the final 14 weeks of his agreement, sitting over $25 million in the black after the extensions for Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb.

ESPN’s Rich Cimini laid out a scenario where Reddick’s reps appear to have hinted he’d like to return to Philly (via Bleacher Report), but would he take a trip to Dallas also? There are questions, of course.

If Reddick were willing to play without a new deal, would the Jets acquiesce? Would a 2026 third rounder or worth do the trick? How long of a ramp-up period would be required for a player who hasn’t worked out with a team all year? How long does Dallas think they’ll be without Parsons and Lawrence? Does the front office care more about winning in 2024 or cap space to carry over? In the likelihood those questions can’t be adequately addressed, there are some other options to explore.

Poach Candidate: San Okuyinonu, San Francisco 49ers

(Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images)

Via Kyle Madison of Niners Wire: “Sam Okuayinonu on SF practice squad. Had a sack last week.”

Okuayinonu stands 6-foot-1, 269 pounds and has been in the league since 2022, starting with the Tennessee Titans.

Trade Candidate: James Houston, DE, Detroit Lions

Lions linebacker James Houston

Jeff Risdon, Lions Wire: “He’s on the 53 (healthy scratch weekly) but the Lions would certainly listen on James Houston.”

It appears that the 6-foot-1, 245 third-year player is caught behind a ton of talent and hasn’t been able to break into the rotation since being a sixth-round pick in 2022.

Trade Candidate: Pat Jones II, Minnesota Vikings

John Jones-Imagn Images

Andrew Harbaugh, Vikings Wire: “Pat Jones II is on the active roster but the Vikings are deep enough they may entertain trade talks for him (4 sacks through the first three weeks).”

The fourth-year pro stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 265 pounds and is actually an original draft pick of current Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, going in the third round in 2021. He has already matched his career high in sacks in a season with four.

Trade Candidates: Nik Bonitto, Baron Browning, Denver Broncos

Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto (15). Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Jon Heath, Broncos Wire: “Baron Browning has three more games on IR. Once he returns, Denver will have a surplus with Browning, Cooper, Bonitto, Elliss and Tillman. I think they’d definitely trade Bonitto, and once healthy, Browning too.”

Bonitto, 6-foot-3, 240 pounds and now in his third season in the league, has a sack on the season after notching eight last year. He was a second-round pick in 2022.

Browning, a third-round pick from 2021, stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 240 pounds. He had 4.5 sacks last year after five in 2022.